We did it! The 70 is saved!

The Learning Center is excited to announce we have completed the Save the 70 campaign, and have raised the funds needed to purchase the 70 acres of beautiful wild space and farmland known as Kinnikinnick Fields. We are both jubilant and sincerely grateful to the hundreds of supporters who contributed to Save the 70. Thank you!

Now that the land has been purchased, our next step is to protect it under an agricultural conservation easement. In the coming months, we will determine which land trust organization will hold and monitor the easement. The easement will remove the land from the speculative marketplace and preserve it in perpetuity for organic farming, education and training. We are still raising funds for this portion of the work, and we invite you to help make it possible. Purchase a season pass for Learning Center programs, or a Angelic Organics CSA vegetable share to help raise funds for the conservation easement.

We are planning several events for supporters and the public to get to know the 70 acres. In early June, we will host a celebration event for donors. On September 15th, farm shareholders, campaign supporters, and the general public are invited to an Open House on the farm and a BioBlitz on the 70 acres. A BioBlitz is a participatory community assessment of the biological diversity on a given property, involving scientists and community members. Stay tuned for further details on all of these upcoming events.

About the land:

The idyllic Kinnikinnick Fields, named for the beautiful and clear Kinnikinnick Creek which runs through it, is adjacent to Angelic Organics farm. Highly prized by area developers, we aim to place the land into a permanent land trust and preserve and restore its beautiful Oak Savanna remnant. It would also provide a neeeded permanent land base for the Learning Center and allow us to expand our educational programming to help thousands more urban and rural people build our local food system each year.

Watch the Save the 70 video, featuring Learning Center Executive Director Tom Spaulding and Kinnikinnick Fields. In the video, Tom describes the effort to save the 70 acres and refers to John Peterson, co-founder of the Learning Center and owner of Angelic Organics farm. At one time, the 70 acres was owned by farmer John’s grandfather and according to family and neighbors, the parcel was a community gathering place.

We also welcome your stories and thoughts about Kinnikinnick Fields. During the farm's September 2011 Open House, a group of Angelic Organics shareholders visited the land and shared their dreams and visions for the land. What are your dreams for the 70 acres? Have you attended a Learning Center workshop or event there or otherwise experienced the land? Send us your stories and thoughts.